Itineraries

The following itineraries will take you to every corner of the country, via both well-known sights and less visited ones, from the crashing Patagonia glaciers to off-the-beaten-track villages. Given the size of the country and cost of internal flights, don’t worry if you can’t complete the list – just visiting some will give you a good flavour of what Argentina has to offer.

Much of Argentina’s “wow” nature highlights are in Patagonia, but there are unmissable sights further north, too, if you can spare a month or so.

1 Península Valdés

Watch whales, seals and sea lions basking in the rich, cool waters off this peninsula in Chubut, northern Patagonia.

2 Punta Tombo

The biggest colony of penguins in South America is a delightful sight, and the trip there will likely take you past guanacos, armadillos and more.

3 Ushuaia

At the very end of the road, Ushuaia sits on the Beagle Channel, teeming with birds, sea lions and giant crabs, and provides a base for exploring nearby Tierra del Fuego national park.

4 Glaciar Perito Moreno

Justifiably one of Argentina’s most visited sights. Watch enormous chunks of blue ice carve off the city-sized glacier and even don crampons to walk on top of it.

5 Fitz Roy

The northern part of Los Glaciares national park provides some of the country’s best trekking, among jagged peaks and turquoise lakes.

6 Quebrada de Humahuaca

Up in the dry northwest, the multicoloured hues of the pinnacles and strata of Humahuaca make it the pick of the region’s sights.

7 Iguazú

The enormous Iguazú waterfalls by the Brazilian border, set in subtropical rainforest, make a steamy, stunning contrast to the icy southern sights.

8 The Delta

A surprisingly verdant riverine community, right on Buenos Aires’ doorstep, makes for a gentle but impressive end to a tour of Argentina’s natural highlights.

Like Route 66 in the US, Argentina’s Ruta 40 – the country’s longest highway, running from Patagonia to Bolivia – has a legendary status, inspiring songs, books and of course road trips. Count on six weeks if you want to take in all 5224km.

1 Cabo Vírgenes

La Cuarenta’s beginning by the Straits of Magellan, marked by a lighthouse, heralds the start of a zigzagging route through the windswept Patagonian steppe.